Senator IAN MACDONALD (Queensland) (13:56): Can I reinforce Senator Bernardi's question to the minister. If Ms Gillard made a commitment in relation to reducing the benefits made to parents for child care, why, Minister, would anyone in Australia have believed her at the time You will recall, of course, that just a year ago, just a few days before the election, Ms Gillard promised everyone in Australia, 'There shall be no carbon tax under a government I lead.' When Tony Abbott pointed out to the Australian public on about a dozen occasions that a Greens-Labor accord would introduce a carbon tax, the deputy Labor leader, Mr Swan, said that Mr Abbott was being hysterical. Ms Gillard came back the day before the election and, hand on heart, promised all Australians, 'There shall be no carbon tax under a government I lead.' So how could the Australian people, knowing that Ms Gillard told the Australian public a direct and deliberate lie, take any notice of any commitment that the Labor Party and their Greens allies gave before the election

Senator Bernardi has raised as well the question of what notice the government will take in relation to child care of the protesters that came from all over Australia yesterday to make their views known. They are protestors who did it the right way, sought approval from the police authorities, and yet Senator Brown, the Greens political party leader, who has a record of illegal protesting, accused the convoy of being a convoy that has not blockaded anything. Senator Brown, do you know why they did not blockade anything Because they abided by the law. They told the police and asked the police for directions where they could do it. They wanted to do it in a lawful and orderly way, unlike Senator Brown. Senator Brown came in and said they were a mob of moaners in town to moan about everything in general and nothing in particular. Fancy that coming from Senator Bob Brown, who has a whole history of moaning and whingeing about everything

Honourable senators interjecting

The TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN ( Senator Back ) (13:59): Senator Macdonald has a right to be heard in silence.

Continued - 24 August 2011

Senator IAN MACDONALD (Queensland) (09:37): I was very interested in the parliamentary secretary's answer to Senator Nash. Parliamentary Secretary, what I cannot understand is that you say half the increase will be paid by the government. To me, that reinforces the view the coalition has had that this is just another cost increase on families. I have to declare that I do not have an interest in child care. It is something I am very concerned about for other Australians but I personally do not have an interest in child care and it is not a subject I have followed closely. In the last couple of weeks, as this bill coming forward became known, some of my young friends, members of the LNP up in the north, have approached me concerning this. Their concern is that this is simply another increase in costs on ordinary Australian families which they can ill afford in this cycle.

Parliamentary Secretary, even your government is aware of the huge increases in costs of living on ordinary Australians. Power prices have been going up in my state of Queensland under the mismanagement of the Bligh Labor government for years now. When the carbon tax comes in, costs of living in Queensland will skyrocket. That will be very hard on ordinary Australian families. It is particularly difficult today if you happen to be a worker in Wollongong, where you are looking in the face of losing your job, along with 999 of your fellow workers. Through various circumstances underlying everything that is happening in Wollongong and in employment right throughout Australia, people with the money to invest in companies like BlueScope Steel simply have no confidence under this government. They have no confidence because they cannot believe anything our Prime Minister says. I am even embarrassed to say 'our Prime Minister'. I prefer to refer to Ms Gillard as the Leader of the Labor Party because she really has not given

Senator Lundy interjecting

Senator IAN MACDONALD: I'm a disgrace If I went to an election, Senator Lundy, and promised with my hand on my heart that I would not do something and then a couple of months later, when I won the election on the basis of that promise, I did the exact opposite from what I had promised, I would think I would be described as a disgrace, but I have not done that. It is your leader, the Leader of the Labor Party, who one year ago